Move to ensure medicare to people near their home districts
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. (Photo: DC/File)
Chennai: The doctors at the government dental college hospital are finding their hands full, well literally with over 900 persons visiting the out patient block daily. A majority of 1,000-2,000 persons who visit the government dental college hospital are from the southern districts.
Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa’s Tuesday announcement to start a new dental college in the southern districts was music to many dentists’ ears. “This signifies the fulfillment of a long cherished dream,” says Dr B. Saravanan, principal of Tamil Nadu Government Dental College that was started on August 10, 1953, and shifted to the present premises in 1961.
Though the place is yet to be identified, the move to commence the college in the southern districts will not only ensure medicare to people near their home districts but also drastically reduce the heavy burden of doctors here who have been handling cases uninterruptedly.
“It will be a boon to the meritorious students in pursuing their ambition near their homes. Further this will help to overcome the problem of concentration of dentists in Chennai and other urban centres,” claims Dr H. Tamizhchelvan, Hon Branch Secretary of Indian Dental Association, Chennai. Scores of dentists commence their practise in the city as they find ample scope for development.
“There is one dentist for 3,000 persons in the city while in the rural areas it is one dentist for 10,000 persons,” Dr Tamizhchelvan adds. “We need a second government institution for the people. In neighbouring Kerala and Karnataka, for instance there are three or four government dental colleges. The initiative will benefit those in the southern districts,” says Dr C. Thulasingam, honorary general secretary, Madras Dental College Alumni Association.
Presently, the lone Government Dental College in Chennai accounts for only 100 seats for UG and 40 for masters. Of them, 15 per cent seats are reserved for all-India quota candidates. This shortage of seats is forcing many students, who miss the MBBS seat by a whisker, to enroll in private institutions. There are 29 private dental colleges in Tamil Nadu and of them 18 are affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University, while the rest are deemed universities.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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